Thought I’d share about a little indie film that just came through my inbox: Pinching Penny.
PINCHING PENNY Don’t You Know How a Kidnapping Works? A British hypochondriac turns to crime after becoming addicted to consumerism. His obsession leads him to the underbelly of a quaint American Midwestern society… where his life falls quickly into the absurd as he continues to spend himself deeper and deeper into depravity.
The trailer and press details are below…
A dizzying and unapologetic roller coaster ride of danger, compulsion and depravity define Pinching Penny, the fast-paced crime thriller from emerging filmmaker, Dan Glaser.
Compared by critics to some of the cult-classic early works of directors the Coen Brothers, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, Glaser tells the story of a British small-time criminal trapped in the town of Fargo, North Dakota whose oniomania (compulsive spending addiction) spirals out of control and sends him on an absurd crime spree where every turn is always for the worst.
The film’s lead role and anti-hero, Alex, played by rising young actor, Steven Molony, unravels into a self destructive spending frenzy to feed his material obsession—leading himself down a dark hole of theft, kidnapping, murder and eventual oblivion.
Written and directed by the 22-year-old Glaser, Pinching Penny, is the young director’s premiere feature length film. “I wanted to make a film that examined America’s obsession with retail therapy,” says Glaser. “I was also really drawn to the idea of doing a substance abuse film that wasn’t about the usual suspects, namely drugs, sex or violence. Overall, I think we captured an examination of vice as a whole—how each and every person has the capacity for deplorable things and what happens when someone follows their obsession into that dark place inside you that no one wants to talk about.”
Acclaimed by critics as a “punch to the gut crime caper”, Glaser’s creative use of unforgettable characters and nefarious situations make Pinching Penny a pop-culture classic soon to be celebrated in the annals of cult crime thrillers.
Pinching Penny premieres on October 11, 2011 on DVD and simultaneous VOD platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Playstation and Xbox and is available to rent exclusively at Blockbuster Video beginning October 18, 2011.
There’s also a red band trailer available here.
Wrong! It’s a great movie, lotsa fun, and showcases some new talent. It’s not the greatest movie ever made, and contains a questionable sub-plot in the middle, but overall, Pinching Penny is very entertaining. For a first film made entirely by a 22-year-old writer/director (Dan Glaser) I think it’s amazing. Steve Molony is known for his role in the Joker Blog series, which is a hoot. I like that the reviewer Wendy called him the lead anti-hero and a rising young actor. She gets it. Movie Vine celebrates indie efforts, and she knows these young folks have BIG futures in bigger and better fims.
Its no where near as good as that ad makes it out to be. The movie says nothing significant (It sure thinks it does, but it merely is a genre movie, nothing more, nothing less).
Eh.